Mozilla, the nonprofit that created Firefox OS, plans to further its mission to make the web accessible to everyone with two new open-source smartphones. The company will leverage Firefox OS, along with the power of open standards and an open community, to launch a rival to Apple's iOS and Google's Android, and it is inviting web developers to join in its mission.

The smartphones, which will be positioned as a cheaper alternative to iPhone, will be shipped to developers in early February to allow them to start creating apps for the phones. The phones will not be available to the general public until later this year, launching first in Brazil to gain a foothold on a less saturated market than Europe or the U.S.

The preview phones come from the small Spanish-based manufacturer GeeksPhone, the first in what the nonprofit group hopes will be a series of low-cost smartphones to be sold around the world, including in developing countries.

The two models, the basic Keon and the higher-end Peak, will be more open-source than the iPhone and other Android devices.

Mozilla encourages developers to create tools and apps for their smartphones and to distribute them through their own websites. In comparison, competitor Apple forces all developers to distribute apps through the Apple store so the company can retain complete control over the technology used on its phones.

Mozilla is also inviting developers to participate in Firefox OS App Days, a series of hack days where developers can learn, hack, and share apps around Firefox OS. Most of the App Days events will take place Saturday, January 26, with the goal of amplifying the grassroots developer movement worldwide.

Amid rumors that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may invest in Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), a massive question has emerged: If such an investment occurs, will Dell maintain its extremely close relationships with Canonical (Ubuntu), Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), SUSE and other open source providers? Hmmm… Here’s The VAR Guy’s spin.

First, a little background. As you may have heard, Dell may go private. Investors could include Silver Lake Partners (a private equity firm), Microsoft, Michael Dell and others. If Microsoft pumps money into Dell, the software giant could strain relationships with Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Acer and other PC makers. Acer has already been critical of Microsoft’s Windows Surface RT and Surface Pro tablet launches.Open Source Concerns

Meanwhile, a Microsoft-Dell financial relationship could also have a ripple effect in the open source world. Dell is one of the top suppliers of servers running Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux. The company also has a close, ongoing relationship with Canonical, promoting Ubuntu Linux on PCs in emerging regions and also working with Canonical on cloud computing.

Moreover, Dell’s own public cloud will leverage OpenStack, the open source platform for launching infrastructure services.

But if Microsoft invests in Dell, will Dell deemphasize or abandon its open source relationships? The VAR Guy seriously doubts it, especially when it comes to servers and cloud computing.

With or without Microsoft’s money, Dell must answer to customers. And customers will revolt if Dell somehow abandons or weakens its engagements with Red Hat and the other major Linux providers. Heck, even Microsoft has opened up to the cross-platform reality, allowing customers to run Linux in the Windows Azure cloud.

Still, other server makers — such as HP and IBM — could wind up being the big open source winners if customers perceive that Microsoft has somehow undermined, however slightly, Dell’s Linux strategy.

On the desktop and in the notebook markets, where Windows still rules over Linux in most regions, The VAR Guy could imagine Microsoft trying to inspire Dell to go “all Windows, all the time.” But hopefully, simple logic will prevail.

Even as Dell focuses more and more on enterprise computing, the company can’t overlook opportunities with Android, Chrome OS, Linux and other software in the mobile market.